Every file. Every rule that matters.
From discovery to live sampling, the checks Google actually cares about.
Discovery and structure
0 ptsReads robots.txt Sitemap lines and standard locations, follows sitemap indexes, and reports each file's type, URL count and size.
- /pricing200
- /docs/old-guide404
- partner.com/page200
- /blog/2021/post410
Live URL sampling
0 ptsFetches 25 URLs spread across the file and reports OK, redirect, broken and bot-blocked, so you know if the sitemap lists dead pages.
- Disallow: / under User-agent: *
- No Sitemap: line
- Crawl-delay ignored by Googlebot
Rule lint
0 pts50,000 URL and 50 MB limits, cross-host URLs, http URLs, duplicates, invalid lastmod dates and missing robots.txt declaration.
Freshness
0 ptsBuckets lastmod dates into the last 30 days, 90 days, a year and older, so you can see whether the sitemap signals anything new.
robots.txt declaration
0 ptsConfirms the sitemap is announced in robots.txt so every crawler, not only the ones you submitted to, can find it.
- Meta tags
- Headings
- Images
- Schema
- Mobile
Health score
0 ptsA single score from the live sample, minus penalties for each error and warning, with the fixes ranked.
A sitemap is a promise.
Break it and crawlers stop trusting it.
Google uses your sitemap to decide what to crawl and when. When it lists dead pages, redirects or stale dates, Google learns to ignore it.
Dead URLs cost crawl budget
Every 404 in the sitemap is a wasted fetch. On large sites, thousands of them mean new pages wait longer to be discovered.
lastmod only works if it is true
Google uses lastmod to prioritise recrawls, but drops it entirely for sites that set it to "now" on every page. Accurate dates get fresh content crawled faster.
Structure errors are silent
A file over 50 MB, a URL on another host, or an index nested too deep will be partially ignored with no warning in most tools. The lint catches them.
Fix the errors. Then keep it honest.
- 1
Remove dead and redirecting URLs
Regenerate the sitemap from your live pages only. List the final URL of every redirect, and drop anything that returns 4xx or 5xx.
- 2
Declare it in robots.txt
Add a Sitemap: line with the absolute URL. Submit it in Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools as well.
- 3
Make lastmod accurate
Set it from the content's real modification time, not the build time. If you cannot, omit it rather than lie.
- 4
Split large files
Keep each file under 50,000 URLs and 50 MB uncompressed, and use a sitemap index to group them by section.
- 5
Re-validate after deploys
Static site generators and CMS plugins regress quietly. Run the validator whenever the site structure changes.
Let the sitemap take care of itself
SiteLift publishes to your CMS or hosted blog with sitemaps, lastmod and robots.txt kept correct, and audits crawlability on a schedule.
No credit card required
Frequently Asked Questions
Everything you need to know about the sitemap validator.
More free tools
robots.txt Tester
Test whether a URL is blocked for Googlebot, Bingbot, GPTBot or any crawler, see the deciding rule and line, and lint your robots.txt for common mistakes.
Broken Link Checker
Check any page for broken links. Live status for up to 150 internal and external links, with redirects and bot-blocked links separated from real 404s.
Internal Link Analyzer
Map internal links across up to 60 pages from your sitemap: orphan pages, weak pages, click depth from the homepage, and where your internal authority flows.